Throughout 2013, the Getty community participated in a rotation-curation experiment using the Getty Iris, Twitter, and Facebook. Each week a new staff member took the helm of our social media to chat with you directly and share a passion for a specific topic—from museum education to Renaissance art to web development. Getty Voices concluded in February 2014.

One of the endlessly fascinating aspects of the Cyrus Cylinder is trying to understand the man behind its creation, Cyrus the Great. What were his intentions and motivations? What kind of ruler was he? What kind of man? In trying to flesh out this historical figure, it seems only natural to want to know what he looked like. But here we fall abruptly short.

There’s a relief at his capital in Pasargadae that some have argued might depict him, but otherwise we have no surviving ancient images. Yet the traditions passed down from the Greek historians (notably the stories of his life in Herodotus, and Xenophon’s glowing account in the Cyropaedia) and the Bible (where he is praised for allowing the Jews to return to Judah and rebuild their temple) ensured that Cyrus’s name remained in circulation for centuries in Western thought—and art. His great deeds and benevolence rendered him a suitable subject for emulation and representation, and though these images may not reveal what the real Cyrus looked like, they shed fascinating light on the way that subsequent generations perceived him.

With all of this in mind, I visited Elizabeth Morrison, senior curator in the Getty Museum’s Department of Manuscripts, to see some of the many medieval faces of Cyrus.

About The Author

I’m associate curator in the Department of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Exhibitions I’ve curated include Aphrodite and the Gods of Love, The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani, and Apollo from Pompeii: Investigating an Ancient Bronze. Exhibitions aside, my main research interests lie with ancient Greek vase-painting and the history of restorations.